How Much Money Do You Need To Become Financially Free?

Most of us dream of achieving financial freedom — that moment when we don’t have to worry about how we’re going to pay the bills or make rent, when all our basic needs are provided for. When there’s enough left to set aside for whatever we desire, whether that’s paying off debt, recreation, or a long vacation.

But what is financial freedom, really?

Simply put, it’s having enough income coming in to not have to trade your time for money anymore.

Most people believe that working until you retire or getting rich is your best bet for becoming financially free, but I’m here to tell you there’s a better way.

And that way is by building yourself a stream or multiple streams of passive income that can pay for your expenses and more… without the need for constant, tiresome work.

What Is Passive Income?

Passive income is exactly what it sounds like: Money that comes in whether you’re actively working or not.

It may sound strange at first, but it really does make a lot of sense.

There are two main ways to make passive income. The first major type of passive income is an idea most of us are familiar with already: investments. These investments generally create monthly income with a fixed or standard rate of return attached to them. This would include vehicles like bank and government bonds, corporate bonds, t-bills, rental property income, etc.

The second type of passive income is the one that’s harder for most people to wrap their heads around: passive business income. Many people assume that running a business means you need to be constantly working in order to achieve any real success. But that’s actually not true at all

Instead, what you need to do is create a business that has the potential to be systemized so that it can work without you. That way, rain or shine, money will continue to flow in whether you’re putting in the hours or not.

Let me give you an example: my landscaper in Hawaii. This guy makes about $20,000 a month and only has to manage the accounts. He doesn’t do the actual gardening work himself. He has several guys mowing and blowing and weed whacking, and it all works without him being on site. In short, this business is an ongoing, systemized, money machine.

Good or good? Next…

Passive income is exactly what it sounds like: Money that comes in whether you’re actively working or not.

What Are Your REAL Expenses?

Of course, passive income is only part of the puzzle. If you have passive income pouring in, but it doesn’t add up above and beyond your expenses, you’ll still never reach a state of financial freedom. The other part is understanding your expenses and what’s actually essential in your life.

When we are talking about financial freedom, there are two ways to talk about.

The first is being free just to be free. This is when your passive income pays for only your basic needs, but not much extra (like all the extra luxuries in life).

Then the other way is where you are able to get whatever you want, when you want, and still not “have” to work.

The ultimate goal is the latter of the two, however, it’s a great first step when you have all your basic needs taken care of, yes or yes?!

So it’s best to create a list of your expenses that are necessities and a list of “nice to haves.”

You’ll notice when you do this, that it’s much easier to simply cut or simplify the non-essential expenses. You’ll begin to question whether you truly need them in your life. Remember, even better than passive income, the best way to make money, is to manage your money well.

Understand your expenses and what’s actually essential in your life. Create a list of your expenses that are necessities and a list of “nice to haves.”

How To Find Your “Financial Freedom Number”

So that all sounds great, right? But to some of you, this may still seem pretty out there. You might be asking, “But Harv, how do I know when I’m bringing in enough money to really be financially free?”

Michelle,
There are plenty of times and days to choose from so you should have no trouble finding a time that works for you. The run time for the web class is a little over an hour. 🙂 If you need assistance please reach out to our team at support@harveker.com

My name is Sandra and I think all you and Harv teach is spot on, I also agree with thinking Rich and Free are not the same, I’m self employed myself and see a lot of Rich people stuck in their own Business day in and day out, I don’t want to grow my Business and be stuck, I intend on learning from people like yourselves, then do it the right way, to be able to be Free then Rich off others who work for me instead… Great or Great…
UK Based…

Harv, thanks for educating us. The online message has been very helpful to me. I am adjusting, unlearning my old belief and way of life as it concerns money.
The online teaching is best for us in Nigeria -Africa who cannot reserve our seat for your regular *free* lectures because of our loction
.Ani Augustine,
Abuja Nigeria

Hi any ideas for a chronic health condition person to create a passive income although not able to hold a regular job or be reliable enough to commit to a schedule? Something where this passive income can be generated from activity done on “good” days? SS disability income is not enough. Is there hope? The future of our countries’ social programs are at serious risk.

Thanks for your comment. The goal of passive income is to earn money while you are not physically working. Now, of course, there is set up time and maintenance but this is not a regular work thing.

Take real estate for example. When you own a property and someone is paying you rent. The only work you need to do is collect the rent and maintain the house. That’s making money passively vs. activity,

I would suggest you join Harv on his class as I think it’s extremely informative on this whole process and can help answer lots of your questions!

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